All Kerala Shankar’s Painting/Cartoon/Caricature Contest for school children, held in the memory of the world famous 'Cartoonist Shankar'.  He received several national and international honor's and awards such as Padma Sree, Padma Bhushan, PadmaVibhushan, Order of Smile etc. In 1949 he started a Painting competition for Children, which was the first of its kind in the world. That was the beginning of Shankar's Painting Competitions. Shankar's painting/cartoon contest is held in 100 countries all over the world. Nearly 2 lakh children participate in the contest every year. We have been conducting this festival of drawings and colors at Kottayam in collaboration with Children’s Book Trust, New Delhi for the last 23 years.